Yesterday I ran across the above illustration on the Art Deco blog. It caught my eye and I was curious to find out more about the artist. The illustration was credited to Marguerite Davis, 1925. Unfortunately a Google search didn't turn up very much information on Ms. Davis (although I discovered a woman by the same name was the co-discoverer of the vitamins A & B).
From the little information I was able to gather, Marguerite was a illustrator during the 20s and 3os and did a lot of work for childrens' primary readers and storybooks. The little girl in the red coat and yellow hat looks like she'd fit right in with Henry Darger's Vivian Girls. Does anyone else have any information on Ms. Davis?
16 comments:
Oh my gosh these illustrations are so so lovely I especially like blackie. :)
I am an absolute sucker for vintage children's book illustrations (I've been known on more than one occasion to buy such books purely for their charming pictures!)--and these are fantastic! Thanks for sharing these!
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I love this art so much. I have some old books that have similar art. They still take my breath away since I was a child.
These are super sweet!
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These are so pretty-the colors....
http://thewandererdiaries.blogspot.com/
I love this style of illustration! My Grandmother has some hardcover children story book sets called "My book house", they are just filled with illustrations of that type. I love everything about them, the style and the colour and the printing quality.
http://childscapes.com/bookpages/bookhouse1937.html
Oh wow! I love these illustrations. Very,very beautiful! Thanks for sharing. xx, Alice from bells and whistles :)
haha what a conincidence! i found these exact images yesterday! i was googling vintage storybook illustration's....i agree, they are definitely eye-catching.
love your blog and your sense of style...and your musical selections as well! :)
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xoxo
these illustrations are stunning! perfect accompaniment to fall. i absolutely love art for children and writing for children.
Ooh these are just gorgeous - been re-reading some Enid Blyton recently and they remind me of them :)
These are great, and thanks for introducing me to the Art Deco blog!
These illustrations are so sweet, they remind me of the books I used to find at my grandmas house :)
Wow, I love these illustrations! Lovely find.
xx
It was so great to see these! I remember the name in my american illustrators history class, when we studied female illustrators of that time, in college. I unfortunately don't have my books, they are at my parents, but you can always email someone at the Society of Illustrators if you ever want to see if they have a bio on her.
Also some other amazing women illustrators of the time are Jesse Wilcox Smith (illustrated the water babies, amazing!) and Rose O'Neill. Rose actually created the Kewpie, which was the first mass produced toy in history (not too bad for a woman of the time :) Also Elizabeth Shippen Green and Violet Oakley, I think you'll really like this blog that showcases female illustrators, and maybe that blogger has info on Ms. Davis (http://femaleillustrators.blogspot.com/)
Sorry about the long post, but for me as an illustrator and art history nut I love going through old illustrations.
Lauren
Sparrow & Urchin
Hi, I'm Katinthecupboard, and I am thrilled that more people are discovering my favorite illustrator with these scans from my Flickr stream. (I do wish I had known how to clean up a little better at the time with Beverly and Blackie ;-) Like you, I had trouble finding bio info on Davis, so I am grateful to Lauren for pointing me in another direction for clues. I have about 240 scanned illustrations of hers in my M. Davis set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/katinthecupboard/sets/72157624222342601/. There will be more to come! Also, the description for this set includes the books and websites I have found that have her illustrations. The Beverly/Blackie style illustrations that are so charming are from "The Children's Own Readers" by Pennell and Cusack, both the 'Friends' primer and Book One, starring Beverly and Jimmy Dale. There are other books also, so look them up, and enjoy!
I have a book Ill by her, called, 'Told Under the Blue Umbrella'..it's charming. I love her work.
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